Southern California -- this just in

Space shuttle Endeavour makes its last landing at LAX

September 21, 2012 | 12:50
pm

Space shuttle Endeavour has touched down at LAX, marking its final landing after a three-decade career in space and bringing an end to NASA’s space shuttle program.

As elsewhere along its choreographed flyover in California, eager fans of the shuttle — filled with both curiosity and nostalgia — gathered at the United Airlines hangar to watch the Endeavour taxi in. A man holding an American flag popped out of the roof of the cockpit of the 747 carrying Endeavour on its back.

As the shuttle flew low over LAX, Kathy Sanders-Phillips
was teary-eyed.

Sanders-Phillips watched the shuttle from the United
hangar with her husband, Ken Phillips, the aerospace curator at the California
Science Center who first thought to bring an orbiter to the museum in 1991.

Phillips said he feels a personal connection to Endeavour
-- his college friend, Ron McNair, was one of the astronauts killed when
Challenger exploded. Endeavour was built to replace Challenger.

Astronaut Mike Fincke, who flew Endeavour's final mission last year, explained to Julian how shuttles land and where they sit. Fincke said he wanted to go to space as a 3-year-old, after watching astronauts walk on the moon.

The former Endeavour astronaut said he's glad to see the shuttle being well-received in Los Angeles

"I can feel the vibe; it's just electric" — but is more excited to see how it affects children like Julian. They're going to be inspired, and they're going to be the next generation to come of doctors and engineers and scientists and astronauts,"Fincke said.